Relief-valve for locomotives.



l PATENTLD JAN. 22, 1907. y TpL. BLAGHAMH. B. REID LJ. H. BEST.

RELIEF VALVE POR LoooMoTIvBs.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wifi/W05@ No. 842,060. PATBNTBD JAN. 22, 190V T. E. BBAGHAN, H. B. REID@L J. H. BEST.

RELIEF VALVE POR LOCOMUTIVES.

APELIGATION FILED PBB.3.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 pico onacoo OQIOOO ooe'ooo ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT onirica.

THOhllAS EDWARD BEAGHN, HUBERT BIRD REID, AND JACQB H. BEST,

i OF SHENANDOAH, VIRGINIA,

RELIEF-VALVE Fon LocoMoTivEs. i

I Specicationof Letters Patent.

Application tiled February 3, 1906 Serial No. 299,318.

Patented Jan. 22,1997.

" To all whom, it may concern:

" and exact description.

Be it known that \ve,"l.`HoMAs EDWARD BEAGHAN, HUBERT Bini) REID, andJACOB H. BEST, citizens of the United States, and residents ofShenandoah, in the county of Page and State ot Virginia,fhave invented anew and Improved Relief-Valve for Loco.- motives, of which the followingis a full, clear,

This invention relates to locomotive attaclunents. While thel inventionmay be applied to Athe cylinders of locomotives using slidevalves, it isespecially applicable where piston-valves are employed.

The object of the invention is to provide an arrangement which willoperate to prevent compression in the ends oi the cylinders orsteam-chest when the pistons are moving freely therein and Without steamand under such conditions as arise wh en the locomotive 1s dril'iing orrunning Alreely without steam, as 1n stopping or 1n going down a grade.

The invention consists in the construction and combination 0i' parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in theclaims.

Reference is to be had tol the accompanying drawings, forming a partofthis speciii'ca tion, in which similar characters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.

Figure l is a side elevation of the cylinder and adjacent parts of alocomotive with which our invention'is employed. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection taken through a relief'ryolve which constitutes a part of theinvention 'ami taken inaplane parallel with tle axis jof the cylinder.Fig." 3 is a vertical section taken tl irough ilze lower portion of therelief-valve shown in Fig. 2, and taken in the plane of the line 3 3 ofFig. l-'-that is', Aat right angles` to the axis ofthe cylinder-and Fig.4f is a plan of the relief-valve.V v

Referring more particular y to the parts, 1 represents the front andlower portion of the boiler, t-owhich the usual cylinder-castings 2attach on each side. rll'iis cylinder-casting is formed below into acylinder 3 and above into a steam-chest -l for the accommodation,respectively, of a piston having a pistonrod 5 and a piston-valve havinga stem 6.

. In applying our invention in. each of the heads 7 of the cylinder 3 Weprovidel tubular thimbles 8, one of which is illustrated in Fig.

L'. l The inner extremities of these thinibles are threaded intothe-heads, as Will be readily understood, and their outer extremitiesare provided with similar threads 9, so as to en I able the' attachmentof reliefevalves 10, one valve' being attached to each thimble, as

shown most clearly in Fig. 1. yThe construcA tion vof one Vof thesevalves is very clearly shown in 2 and '3. 'It has a substantiallycylindrical. body 1l, having a vertical central axis, and from this bodya hub i2 projects laterally, which screws onto the threads 9' and openscommunication betweenthe interior of the body llt' and the interior ofthe cylinder 3. l v

The upper portion of the body l l is formed into a .contracted neck i3,beyond which' an expanded head 14 is formed, the said head beingprovided with a plurality of perforations 15, so that it constitutes arose-nozzle- At its lower end the neck 13 is pro vided with a conicalcounterbore 16, Whichconstitutes a seat for a plunger or ping 17. Thisplug has a cylindrical bodylS, Which is of reduced diameter with respect`to the body 1l, as shown, so that an annular steam-space 19 is formedthereabout, as will be readily 'understood. The lowerl extremity of thisbody is enlarged into a head 20,Which its nicely in the bore ofthe body1i and is preferably provided with packing-rings 2l, as shown.

The upper extremity of the plug 17 is formed into guide-Wings 22, whichproject upwardly into the bore of the neck 13 and vconstitute guideswhich assist the seating of the plug when it moves upwardl to its seat.The lower extremity of the bo y "il oi the valve is closed by aremovable head 23, which preferably .makes threaded engagementtierewith, as shown, in this head there is mounted'centrally a stein 24,which is provided'with a thread 25, making av ICO tremity of the stem 24projects as shown and is providedwith a bolt-head 27, which facilitatesthe adjustment of the stem by means of a wrench.

' ward movement ol the plug).

The lower portion of the plug 17 is formed with a'tapered bore 28,(indicated indotted lines in Fig. 2,) so that an elevated end face 29 isprovlded. The stem 24 just described projects into this bore 28, and itsextremit lies a short distance 'from thefaee 29. `t should be understoodthat this stem 24`constitutcs an adjustable stop to limit the down- Ithas also another function, which will described more fully hereinafter.

As indicated in ll1 ig. 3, the head 23 is provided w"ith alaterally-projecting nipple 30, which communicates through a duct 31with a chamber 32, formed within the body 11 be- "iw the plug. Thisnipple is preferably substantially horizontal, and at a suitable pointin its lower side we attach drip-cock 33. The valves 1,0 are attached atthe heads of the cylinder, as shown, so that the nipples 30 rojectoutwardly or toward the side of the ocomotive. To these nipples` 3() weattach branch pipes 34, which lead upwardly and their seats.

. nozzles 14 with the outer air.

.ningunder steam.

does so with perfect freedom.

connect, by means ol' a suitable T', with a main pipe 35. This pipeextends upwardly over the steam-chest 4, at which point it is rovidedwith a suitable globe-valve 36.

eyond this glebe-valvc it passes into the interior of' thecyiinder-casting and communicates with the live-steam port, which leadsfrom the dry pipe to the steam-chest.

With the construction described it should be understood that when steamis admitted to the under sides of the plugs 17 in the chambers32 it willoperate to hold the plugs 17 upwardly and upon their seats 16. This thenormal condition `when the engine is run- When the engine is to heallowed to run freely, as on a downgrade or when coming to a stop, whenthe throttle-is closed to shut oil' steam from the cylinder, the plugs17 are no longer supported by the steam-pressure and fall by gravityaway from In this way communication is opened through the thimblcs 8 andthe rose- Ilence as the piston reciprocates within the cylinder it Inthis way no compression or rarefaction of the air or exhaust-steamWithin the cylinder can take place. As the steam-chest 4 is incommunication with the cylinder 3 through the usual steam-ports, itfollows that the condition of the air within the steam-chest wouldbecome substantially the-same as that in the cylinder, and in this .waycompression in the steam-chest is always prevented. This is liighlydesirable, as it relieves thelvalve-stem 6 and. .valvc-geer-of severestrains to which l they lmight otherwise be subjected.

:in case the'rpipeconncctidns34 35, leading A'[L''the relief-valves;shouiitbecbme broken can proceed on one cylinder.

the .relief-plugs-U may be held against their y seats by means of theadjustable stems 24 by adjusting the same inwardly a sufficient amount.In this connection it should be understood that lthe inner extremity ofthe stem will advance until it engages the face 29 when the'plug' isupon its seat. From this arrangement in ease of the failure of the pipeconnections the locomotive may still rmaintained in substantially goedrunning order.

In case of a breakdown affecting one cylinder the globe-valve whichadmits steam to .that cylinder will be closed, and the engine There isno danger o -the relief-valves freezing by reason of te drip-cocks 33.

Where ari-engine fitted with our attachment is standing in a roundhouse,there is no danger of the engine starting accidentally, as theysometimes do by reason of a leaky throttle-valve.' It being understood'that the plu rs 17 would be in a depressed position when t 1e enginewas'standing, communication would be opened from the cylinders, so thatany steam that escapes thereto would pass out into the atmospherewithout tending to collect under pressure.

The relief-valves are adapted to be used with. four-cylinder tandem andcross-compound locomotives, and in this instance the valves areconnected to the low-pressure cylinders. -'l`he use of the relief-Valvestends to imrrease the life of the piston-packing, because they preventback pressure.

llaving thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters latentl. .ln cimibination, an engine-cylinder, arelief-valve having a bodynvith a seat formed therein, a plug movablymounted in said body and adapted to rest against said seat,

.said valve having a chamber beyond said plug, means for admitting livesteam to said chamber, and means for opening communilation from saidcylinder to said body between said seat and said chamber whereby whensaid plug is unseated the interior of said cylinder may communicate withthe atmosphere. 1

2. A relief-valve consisting of a body having a seat, a plug movablymounted in said body and havin;r a substantially cylindrical body with asaouldcr normally resting against said' seat said body having aninlethub'adapted to admit steam to the space around said plug, said bodyhaving a steamchainber beyond the end of said plug wherebysteam-pressurc in said chamber will hold said plug against said seat.

3. An engine-cylinder in combination with a relief-valve having a bodyin communical panded l valves presenting seats in the lower portionmouiited in said valve-body, said plug having a shoulder normallyresting against saidseat, said valve-body having a chaniberadapted toreceive steam-pressure to hold said plug on said seat.

4. In combination, an engine-cylinder, relief-valves mounted in theheads thereof and communicating with vthe interior of said cylinder,.said relief-valves having reduced necks in the upper portions thereofand ex- (perforated heads therebeyond', plugs mounte respectively insaid valves and having guide-rings received in said necks, said of saidnecks to receive'said plugs, said plugs having heads guided in saivalves, means for admitting steam to the under sideof said lugs, andadjustable stops for limiting the downward movement of said plugs.

5. A relief-valve for a locomotive-cylin der, having a substantiallycylindrical body with a hub communicating withthe interior thereof, saidbody having a contracted neckand an expanded perforated nozzle therebe`yond, -a plug having a head guided in the lower portion of said body andadapted to come upon said seat, said plug having guiderings formed atthe upper extremity thereof means for admitting steam to the interiorthereof.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names'to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THoMA's EDWARD BEAGHAN. HUBERT BIRD REID. JACOB H. BEST. f

Witnesses as to Beaghan and Reid:

Jos. R. ELLIS, J. S. KELLEI.

Witnesses as to Jacob H. Best:

W. B. SPRINKEL, W. A. KooNTz.

